MySQL CEO Mickos Addresses Critics, Looks to Open-Source Growth

Few can expect any open source-related news to escape its share of both withering scorn and good insight from venues such as Slashdot. This premise held true when a recent, independent study done by Reasoning Inc. claimed that open source database MySQL was some 6 times cleaner than comparable proprietary code.
With the comments on Slashdot in mind, and with the knowledge that MySQL 5.0 will be announced soon, eWEEK.com Database Editor Lisa Vaas decided to catch up with MySQL AB CEO Marten Mickos to get some feedback on the community commentary and to find out what his companys planning in the new year.
Click here to read a sampling of Slashdot comments and to click on through to the entire discussion.

eWEEK.com: What are your expectations, plans, hopes and wishes for MySQL as it enters the new year?

Mickos: I believe 2004 will be a year of great economies. There will be good economy for users of Linux who expand to use the entire open-source stack. There will be good economy for all those open-source vendors who by now have a viable business model. And there will be economies of scale as open-source solutions are being duplicated, replicated and multiplied all over the world.
eWEEK.com:Were seeing some up tick in the economy. How do you think that will impact MySQL?
Mickos:I agree with the view that the economy is slowly recovering, and thats good news for everyone. That said, customers tell us that they will continue to want to do more with less, and thats why I believe that MySQLs business may grow faster in 2004 than in 2003.
You might even claim (and I certainly believe so) that open source is one of the enablers of the economic recovery, as it allows companies to expand and deploy new systems without having to risk their financial stability.
Next page: Mickos on taking over SAP AGs open-source database.

Lisa Vaas is News Editor/Operations for eWEEK.com and also serves as editor of the Database topic center. Since 1995, she has also been a Webcast news show anchorperson and a reporter covering the IT industry. She has focused on customer relationship management technology, IT salaries and careers, effects of the H1-B visa on the technology workforce, wireless technology, security, and, most recently, databases and the technologies that touch upon them. Her articles have appeared in eWEEK's print edition, on eWEEK.com, and in the startup IT magazine PC Connection. Prior to becoming a journalist, Vaas experienced an array of eye-opening careers, including driving a cab in Boston, photographing cranky babies in shopping malls, selling cameras, typography and computer training. She stopped a hair short of finishing an M.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She earned a B.S. in Communications from Emerson College. She runs two open-mic reading series in Boston and currently keeps bees in her home in Mashpee, Mass.